Lamaze Class..hee hee whoo! And a brief Dr. update

That is my attempt at a breathing pattern we learned...it is actually 4 hee's though. This past Monday Chris and I attended a Lamaze class through my OB office. Now, Chris and I both were skeptic of going and had heard from many people that we would not need it and even friends who did not go told us they were fine without it. But after debating over it we figured why not, it can only help to be more informed. And I have to say I am very happy we went. Chris even said "that was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be". And I have to agree! Not only did we learn a lot and become more comfortable with whole birthing idea (as comfortable as I can be!) but I think it finally hit me that we are very close to adding a third member to our family and it is going to happen a lot sooner than I have realized. It also made us a lot more excited and anxious. When learning about what the baby will go through and what will happen with the baby as soon as he/she is born and right after, I just kept thinking "oh my gosh, there is that little baby in here so close to ready to come out and meet his/her mom and dad". Like I said, for some reason it is such a surreal feeling and odd feeling to me that there is a little baby in my belly. And not just any baby..the baby I have dreamt of, the baby I know I was meant to raise and the baby that Chris and I created is so close to meeting us. I know the baby is there, I feel him/her...and Lord knows my ever growing appearance screams "baby"..it still is just so hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that the baby, scratch that, our baby is almost here. Especially thinking it looks like a baby and acts like a baby already is just crazy! Maybe I am weird, but I just find the entire thing so surreal. After we left I think we talked half the way home about what a miracle this entire experience is and what a miracle this baby is. The fact my body has incubated and taken care of a baby and now knows what to do to birth it is just a wonderful miracle of life, and I can see why it is a miracle. The miracle of this baby, the fact my body knows what to do, and the fact that Baby B is almost here really hit me and took my breath away. We also talked about the Nurse's advice to the "coach"...treat your wife like a million bucks..fluff her pillow, massage her back and take care of her! Like I ever questioned him ;)

Anyways, now that I went on my rant on to the rest of our Lamaze class. The nurse that conducted it was so sweet and actually very funny! I think between the snacks she provided and her humor, Chris was entertained. There was one other cute couple there with us and we all just were filling that room with excitement. The nurse did a great job explaining everything to us...maybe even a little too much! Chris's eyes grew huge as he watched her explain the birth process and what the baby and my body goes through. After she showed examples of all the dialation and effacement stages (yes she used cans, cream cheese tops, paper, and other tools for measurement) Chris commented on how he could not believe our bodies did that. Yes, he is in for just as big of a shock as me..and probably a whole new level of appreciation for his wife ;). The nurse also had a baby, sac and umbilical cord (fake of course) and an actual real pelvic bone and showed what will happen. Yes I cringed and even Chris cringed! But it was neat to see. She explained everything from start to finish to our stay at the hospital (which I informed Chris he will not leave my side while there, which he said he would not want to) and she even went over breast feeding a little. We learned breathing techniques, the stages of labor, how to push and even some about breast feeding. And yes, after watching a labor video of a natural birth I can say I have no desire to go natural. I am not that strong..but that is ok I have nothing to prove and the baby will be here with or without drugs..so drug me up!

The funny part was when she talked about signs of when to call the Dr. and all of my blood pressure symptoms were on the list. Chris at this point leaned over to me and said check, check, check..we both chuckled. She also said unfortunately my bp does put us at a higher risk for c-section but it is not guaranteed. And if it is a normal labor most likely it will be a long one since I am being induced early. We will have movies and plenty of things packed. As Chris joked, we probably will have way too much stuff packed with us for our short stay! I guess the only real questions I have left to address with my Dr. are 1) how will he induce labor early especially if I am not progressing 2) Chances of c-section and how bp will effect labor.

Speaking of my Dr. I had my first nonstress test (NST) and weekly check up Wednesday. The NST went well. I had to lay there a long time because the baby was not kicking as strong as he liked. He/she was moving a ton, just not strong. But this baby never kicks strong. He/she is just sweet. But of course this worried me. My bp has been back up as well so he upped one of my meds (which I was NOT happy about) and he drew blood to test me for preeclampsia and for 5th disease (I had a student diagnosed with it last week). I am suppose to continue watching bp levels and headaches and swelling. I had a weak moment and broke down to him because I am very much over living in worry and stress about having a healthy baby. I feel like I am in a time cruch with my body and a race against my body. I hate knowing my body is not handling my pregnancy and I just worry about having a healthy child. I hate thinking about my bp not being good for the baby and I also even worry about taking too much meds. I guess I am just tired of being fearful of having an unhealthy baby because I would never forgive myself. I just feel as if I am messing up and I just wish things were normal and easy. But it seems like I do not like to do things the easy way...can't get preggo easy and cant have an easy pregnancy! Oh well! So needless to say it was a hormonal, emotional Dr. appointment that did not easy my worries..but next week we get an ultrasound and another NST.

On the brighter note, tomorrow is Friday!! And my sweet class and their parents are throwing a baby shower for me! And tonight is my favorite night of TV..Greys Anatomy, Office, Practice, Parks and Rec and 30 Rock..yes we are TV junkies!